


Thwarting A Potential Uprising

by afteriwake



Series: Unexpected Legacies [5]
Category: Arthurian Mythology, Sherlock (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-03
Updated: 2015-10-15
Packaged: 2018-04-24 14:31:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4923220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Merlin informs Sherlock and Molly that a very mischievous and dangerous fae has escaped with the intention of raising her own personal army comprised of the male police force in attendance at the Halloween party thrown by Scotland Yard, they take steps to make sure that doesn't happen...with some unexpected help from some from friends and acquaintances.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> And this is my first entry for the Spook Me Ficathon 2015! This particular fic was inspired by [Dark Faerie](http://s16.postimg.org/90ql2zv79/Dark_Faerie1.jpg) by AIMaNeGrA.

With all the hubbub of the problem at Molly’s home both of them had almost forgotten that Halloween was coming up, sooner rather than later. They had both been invited to the costume party that Scotland Yard was throwing for the occasion, though it had been before they had begun dating. Molly had agreed to go but Sherlock had been unsure of whether he’d wanted to attend. Seeing as Molly was going, though, he supposed he should. It wouldn’t do for Molly to go without him. The question had then become whether they had wanted to go in costume together or separately. They hadn’t had much time to decide; after Sherlock had had his confrontation with the Dark One in her home there had only been a week left to come up with a costume idea. And now there were only three days until the party and they both had been so busy with other things they still hadn’t really talked about it.

“Do you still want to go to the party?” he asked as he finished getting his things to take them to the loo to change for the night. Now that Molly was no longer having the nightmares as frequently he found they settled into a rather pleasant evening routine. Once they had gotten ready to sleep they would lie together in bed and stay close and talk. He enjoyed the intimate closeness with her. It was actually one of the best parts of his day, he realized, something he looked forward to. He realized it was going to be quite hard to get used to when they didn’t have a reason to share a bed each evening.

“I suppose we don’t have to,” she said. “I mean, it would be nice. I doubt either of us are going to want to do much on Halloween, if it’s going to be as bad as we think it’s going to be with the ghosts.”

“I honestly don’t know, but I imagine it’s going to not be pleasant,” he said. He looked at her for a moment. “You do want to go, though, don’t you?”

“I would,” she admitted. “We don’t have to stay for long, though. Just long enough to socialize for a bit and maybe get the chance to dance with you again. Slow dances only, though, I promise.” She flashed him a smile at that and he found himself returning it. “But we would have to come up with a costume idea, and normally I’d say 1920s flapper and all, but…”

“Bad memories,” he said, the smile dropping off his face.

She nodded. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to look at a flapper dress the same way ever again, which is a shame, because I love that era.” Then she made a shooing motion with her hands. “Go get ready for bed. We can talk more about it when you get into bed.”

His grin came back, though not as brightly, and he turned and went to the loo to change. The incident at Eynsford was going to stay with them a long time, it seemed. He changed quickly and had just stepped out of the loo when he felt a familiar presence nearby. “Do I need to go get Molly?” he asked, turning to look at Merlin.

“It wouldn’t hurt,” he said with a nod.

Sherlock bit back a sigh and then went back to his bedroom, opening the door. “We have a visitor,” he said, a bit sullenly.

Molly _didn’t_ bother holding back her sigh. “I’d rather hoped for some privacy and some time with you,” she said, pulling back the covers and getting out of bed. She went to the back of the door and got her dressing gown, slipping it on over her pyjamas.

“Hopefully he’ll be quick,” he said, moving out of her way so she could leave the bedroom. She made her way to the sitting room with Sherlock following, and they saw Merlin sitting in John’s chair. The two of them made their way to the sofa. Sherlock sat down first and Molly sat next to him, leaning into him. “Well?” Sherlock asked.

Merlin was quiet for a moment. “The fae are being…restless,” he replied. “It appears as though there has been a particularly mischievous one who has escaped imprisonment who they’re worried will wreak havoc in London.”

“What kind of mischief does he…” Sherlock began, but Merlin shook his head. “She wreak?” he asked.

“Putting men in power under her thrall to raise armies to do her bidding,” he said. “She looks at humans as cannon fodder. She could go after anyone: military men, hooligans…”

“Coppers at a Halloween party?” Molly said, raising an eyebrow.

Merlin gave her a look. “You read my mind.”

“No, I just thought you might have read ours,” she said, shaking our head. “You want us to go to the party and make it an inviting trap, don’t you?”

“That had been the general idea,” Merlin said. “Alvarie is the type to do some research before she picks a target.”

“But why would she be here in London?” Sherlock asked.

“Because you’re here,” Merlin said. “And because the Dark One wants to make your life hell. Who do you think let her out and set her on you? Besides,” he continued as he stood. “That’s what makes the use of the police force so genius. They’re your acquaintances. Some of them are even your friends. If you have to kill any of them to stop them, well, that would just hurt you even more, now, wouldn’t it?”

“I don’t want to have to kill anyone,” Sherlock said, quietly.

“And we’re going to do everything we can to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Merlin said. “We’re going to take all the precautions we can. But I need to know where the party is taking place, how I can be slipped inside, and just what you two are going as so we can work wards and talismans into your costume to protect you.”

Sherlock and Molly looked at each other. “We hadn’t figured that out yet,” Molly said. “We were actually just about to do that.”

“Well, I have millennia of expertise in dealing with Halloween in all its glory, Merlin said as he sat on the arm of the chair. “And I have a vast knowledge of popular culture. Let’s see what we can sort out and decide on on such short notice. I’m thinking…something not too outrageous, something _definitely_ not silly, and most of all, something easy to do spell work in.”

“Well, I was considering...” Molly said, flushing slightly.

“Go on,” Sherlock said.

“Bonnie and Clyde,” she said. “I mean, I know it’s Scotland Yard and it’s not wholly appropriate, since they _were_ criminals, but it’d be comfortable and easy to put together on short notice, and it’d be a bit of a lark, and…I think you’d make a dashing Clyde, Sherlock.”

Sherlock considered it. “It could work,” he said.

“Considering my other suggestion was Gomez and Morticia Addams I think it’s the better choice,” she said.

“We could easily sew things into the linings of skirts and trousers and suit jackets,” Merlin said thoughtfully. “As well as cast spells on the clothing themselves, especially if you get vintage clothing. Plus it is kind of a nice tongue in cheek thing. I think Bonnie and Clyde would be the best bet this year.”

“Then it’s settled.” Sherlock said. “Do you have to go to your post tomorrow, Molly?”

She shook her head. “I can go look at the vintage shops. They may have been picked over, but I’m sure I’ll find something. I’ll need your sizes, though.”

“I can go with you,” he said. “I’m between cases.”

“Meanwhile I’ll begin to see what I can do to make sure that if Alvarie tries to do anything funny I can keep it contained,” Merlin said. “I can set up wards that can be activated only with her arrival at the party to keep her and any mischief she might cause contained. Don’t worry, Sherlock. We’ll keep the people you care about safe.”

“You’d best hope so,” he said. Molly reached over and gripped his hand, squeezing it, and he squeezed it back. He didn’t like this, not at all, but there wasn’t much he could do. He wasn’t about to let some escaped dark fae turn London’s police force into her own personal army. He was going to do whatever it took to stop it. After all, that what these powers meant. That’s what his life was about now. He had best get used to it.


	2. Chapter 2

Sherlock woke up before Molly, as he had most mornings, and stayed in bed, staying close. They’d found she had an easier time waking up if he was closer than if he wasn’t. The bond between them was getting stronger, it seemed, with each passing day, and he wondered if he should be concerned by that. He knew his nature and even though he had made great strides to change, both because of Molly and for Molly, he knew he could very easily slip back to old ways again and he didn’t want to hurt her and still have this connection between them. He didn’t want her to hate him and still have to be attached to him or acknowledge him in any way for the rest of her life if he hurt her badly.

After a little while she began the stretch, which he knew meant she was waking up. Soon enough she rolled over to face him. “Morning,” she said, giving him a grin.

“Good morning,” he said, giving her a small smile in return. She leaned in and kissed him softly, though very quickly, before pulling away. “Do you have any idea where we should do our shopping?”

“Well, I was thinking about that,” she said. “And I remembered I have a friend who’s very into musicals and she said that she’d heard they might be doing the ‘Bonnie & Clyde’ musical here and that clothing might be coming out of the woodwork. And so I thought we could pay her a visit, or I could at least call her. I mean, my outfit might be a bit harder to find. 1920s era clothing is easier to find, but…”

“But you don’t want to wear certain things,” he finished, and she nodded. “Well, if I remember correctly, they were most active in the late 1920s and then died in the mid-1930s, so if we look for clothing from that era it should be different enough. Depression Era clothing would be.”

“And that’s the kicker: we want _American_ Depression Era fashion,” she said with a smile, sitting up and then pushing the covers off of her lower body. “Hence theatre buffs who are into the ‘Bonnie  & Clyde’ musical.”

“Are you into that musical?” he asked, following suit a moment later.

“I am,” she said with a nod. “I think Laura Osnes is stellar and has a lovely voice, and Jeremy Jordan is absolutely superb. I actually flew to New York just to see it during the previews, which was a good thing, since there were only the thirty-three previews and the thirty-six performances on Broadway. It’s a shame, really. It was a wonderful production. If it ever does pop up here on the West End I’ll probably go see it here every night I can.”

He filed that little tidbit under useful bits of information and then they began to head into the kitchen. He had surprised her with the knowledge that he could make a decent breakfast so he did that while she got on the phone with her friend, occasionally asking him for his sizes. Her friend said she would see what she could do on such short notice but she advised them to hit the vintage stores as well just in case. They were just finishing up when her friend called back with the news she had gotten a bit of luck and had the perfect suit for him, a dead ringer to an outfit from the Broadway run of the production. “That was quite lucky,” Sherlock remarked when Molly was done telling him the news.

“Well, that production was done in 2011 so it’s been a little while,” she said as she headed towards the bedroom. “There’s always the chance it could actually _be_ something Jeremy wore in the production that got misplaced that ended up out on the market.”

“I suppose if I only have to wear it once that’s fine,” he said.

“Well, we’ll treat it with a water/vodka spray treatment,” Molly said with a grin. “That will disinfect it and freshen it up a bit.”

He studied her for a moment. “I take it you were involved in theatre,” he said.

“Oh, only in the backstage parts,” she said with a nod. “But I love it, I do. I try and go see plays and musicals as often as I can. I love them so much more than films, actually. There’s nothing that beats live theatre.” She went and picked out some clothing and then headed to the loo. “I want to go take a shower. I’ll be quick, I promise.”

“All right,” he said with a nod as she gave him a brief kiss. He didn’t mind if she took a brief shower or a long one, to be honest. He wanted to think. He had yet to take her out on a proper date, and he wasn’t about to count the party as one because it was going to be a gigantic trap. Dinner and a trip to the theatre would be something she would probably enjoy greatly, and the longer a shower she took the better plans he could make. He was just about to sit on the bed and get his mobile off the nightstand when he felt Merlin’s presence in the room. “Yes?” he asked, looking up at the wizard.

“I’ve laid down the wards I needed to at The Clapham Grand,” he said. “I have to say, Scotland Yard must really like its staff to book that place. Very nice.”

“They had an exceedingly good year,” he said. “Aside from a small blip involving Moriarty.”

“I’m assuming that good year was in no small part due to you,” Merlin said.

“It wasn’t all me,” he said, with a small trace of modesty. “But it was a large part. I helped close many high profile cases.”

Merlin tilted his head. “You haven’t taken as many of those cases lately, though,” he said.

Sherlock shook his head. “No. And I miss them.”

“You can, you know. The weird cases are important, but they don’t have to be your sole priority. It’s…” He groped for the right word. “It’s about finding balance. You are who you are, Sherlock. You may not believe it, but you like keeping the world safe. And you like making the world better, too. And while you do that with the weird cases, you do that just as much with the mundane cases.” Merlin sat next to him on the bed. “It’s good to devote time and energy to this, to stopping the Dark One. But don’t let it consume you. That’s my job. I’m the one who has to watch out for all those threats. You focus on the things that need that superior brain of yours, the big threats, whether they’re supernatural or not. And you focus on Molly, too. She’s good for you.”

Without realizing it, Sherlock grinned at that. “I suppose she is,” he said.

“Good thing you see that,” Merlin said with a grin of his own. “Now, are your costumes sorted out?”

“Mine is, possibly. Molly’s isn’t.” 

“Well, work on that. We need to get them today if we can to start getting as much done to them to protect you and Molly from anything Alvarie might throw at you. And then tonight I want to go over some spells we can practice to protect _you_ from her snares.”

“What about Molly?” Sherlock asked.

“She’s female. They won’t work on her,” Merlin said. He studied her. “Are all your copper friends male?”

“There is one female police officer I associate with, though we’re far from friends,” Sherlock said, making a slight face. “She is friendly with Molly, though. Sally Donovan.”

“Does she believe there’s something different about you?”

He was quiet as he though. She hadn’t called him a freak lately, though he supposed she should have since he really _was,_ now. In fact, she’d rather left him alone, more or less, since his fall from the roof. “I don’t know, to be honest. I haven’t dealt with her much in the months since the fall from the roof,” he said.

Merlin pondered that. “Have her stick close to Molly, then. She could be an asset or a hindrance if things start to get hairy. Make a decision then. It’s going to be like herding frightened sheep with everyone else when Alvarie starts making her move. One more person on your side would be great.”

Sherlock nodded. “Are you going to be there?” he asked.

“Yes,” Merlin said. “I’m going to use one of those Polyjuice Potion-type face changing potions before I go, though. I’ll let you know who I am, no worries, and I’ll be using a spell so that no one pays much attention to me. Chances are I’ll be mingling among the guests at times but generally staying in the background.”

“You’ll have to teach me that spell,” Sherlock said.

“I can add it to the list tonight,” Merlin said with a grin. “But I think you had plans I interrupted? And my suggestion is a musical. I’ve seen her iPod.”

Sherlock nodded, giving Merlin a small grin before the man popped out of the room. Hopefully he could find something that had decent seats that he could expect Molly would enjoy, and do it before she finished her shower and was done getting ready for the day. After all, if she came back in before he was done then that would ruin the surprise, now, wouldn’t it?


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone interested in what the costumes Molly and Sherlock are wearing look like, Sherlock's costume looks like [the second picture down with the headline ' _Bonnie & Clyde_ Will Record Cast Album After Closing Date'](http://www.broadway.com/shows/bonnie-clyde/buzz/) and Molly's costume looks like [the second picture in the article with them in the car](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/02/theater/reviews/bonnie-clyde-with-laura-osnes-and-jeremy-jordan-review.html).

Molly’s friend lived in Chatham, and she had said she’d be in possession of the suit and _possibly_ a replica of one of Bonnie’s dresses by three in the afternoon, so the two of them lounged around Baker Street until nearly one and then headed toward the Charring Cross station to take the train at half past to take them there. Sherlock knew if they spent too much time there they would cut the dinner reservations close, but it would look strange if they just suddenly popped up outside her friend’s office at the university where she worked when her friend had suggested meeting them at the train station, and Molly had said they could always just use the spell to pop back to Baker Street if they ran a little late.

He supposed train travel wasn’t too bad, though he’d much rather have been able to get on a train with a private area for himself and Molly so they could discuss more about what was going to happen at the party and make plans. He felt as though he was on tenterhooks about this; a lot of the time when he went into a situation like this there was no warning; he had been underprepared at Eynsford and the incident at Molly’s home had really happened with very little warning other than the feeling that something was wrong. They had an opportunity to plan for this and with two days until the party he almost felt as though time was being wasted.

She seemed to have been studying him as he was lost in thought. “We don’t have to go out tonight,” she said.

He blinked. “Were you able to tell what I was thinking?” he asked, surprised.

“In a vague sort of way,” she said. “You seem preoccupied, which I know is about what’s going to happen at the party. And there isn’t a lot of time, and we’re having to go to Kent for the costumes, and then you made plans but tonight must seem like a waste of time, so…we don’t have to go.”

“I owe you a proper date, though,” he said with a frown.

She gave him a small smile. “John’s had his eye on someone for a bit. Give him the tickets and the dinner reservation and after the party and Halloween are over then we can go on a date, all right? Just tell John he owes you. That way tonight you can go over what you need to go over and your mind isn’t befuddled because of music that grated at your ears.”

He leaned over and kissed her softly. “I’ll give John the theatre tickets, but we can at least keep the reservations,” he said when he pulled away.

Her smile got wider. “All right,” she said. She shifted in her seat and leaned her head against him. “Where are they at, anyway?”

“Kettner’s,’ he said. “I asked my brother for a favor.”

“What do you owe him for that?” she asked.

“Nothing, surprisingly,” he replied. “I’ve stayed out of trouble because of you and he appreciates that.” He was quiet for a moment. “I also think he realizes something happened to you, something…unpleasant, and he was not happy. Not with me, as you seem to be fine with me and are happy to be around me. But if this would in some small measure please you, it’s no trouble to him. He’s fond of you.”

“Fond of me?” she asked, lifting her head up and giving him a confused look. “Why?”

“Because you’re a stabilizing influence in my life, especially…now,” he said. “He knows this. He can see it. And he appreciates it. Also, because you stood up to him when he attempted to intimidate you. He appreciated that as well.”

She looked surprised, and then settled in next to him. “Well, he was being a prat.”

“I think that was how he knew you would handle me and all my quirks,” he said, shifting slightly to put an arm around her shoulders and pull her close. “If you would stand up to him, eventually, when it was needed, you would stand up to me as well.”

“I see,” she said. “I suppose he had me all figured out, then. Better than you.”

“Yes. But while he likes you, he doesn’t…care for you as I do,” he said. He had almost, _almost_ said he loved her. It had almost come out as naturally as he pleased and he had only stopped himself because he was positive it was too soon, even if he was fairly sure it was absolutely true. She didn’t appear to notice, though, and she soon changed the topic to something else and the easy flow of conversation continued as the train took its hour and a half long journey to Chatham.

They got off the train at the Chatham station and it took Molly only moments to spot her friend. She was a black woman wearing denim trousers and a T-shirt with a white mask and a red rose on it. She had her hair in very tiny braids, each braid with one strand of brightly colored hair in shades of purple, orange or green, that went down to her shoulders, and she had it all swept over one shoulder at the moment. “Monai!” Molly said happily. “I love your hair!”

“Well, it’s tradition at this point,” Monai said with a laugh. “I think my fellow professors take bets on what colors my braids will be each Halloween now. This year I decided to throw them for a loop and do three.” She shook her head and the braids went flying around a bit. “My neck ached by the time it was done but I love it.”

Sherlock was surprised to hear she spoke with an American accent, and specifically what sounded like a Southern accent, likely from Georgia, but he couldn’t remark on it before Molly was giving her friend a hug. When they were done, Molly pulled away and then gestured to Sherlock. “Monai, this is my boyfriend, Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock, this is one of my best friends in the entire world, Monai Harrison.”

“I’ve heard _so_ much about you,” Monai said with a grin, one that looked rather impish, as she extended her hand.

“Not all of it good, I’m assuming,” he said, shaking her hand.

“Oh, it’s not that,” she said. “You’d be surprised at what’s Molly’s thought about you over the years…and particularly what she’s had to say about you went she’s been drunk.”

Molly turned red. “Oh God,” she murmured.

“It’s all right, honey. I won’t say a word until you tell me I can,” she said with a laugh. “But I’ve known Molly since our days in university. We were dorm mates. Spent the whole four years together _and_ med school, and we’ve been best friends ever since.”

Sherlock looked at her. “It’s surprising an American from the South prefers to be in Britain,” he said.

She laughed. “My father is British,” she said. “I have dual citizenship. My dad, bless him, tried to stay in the US but couldn’t, so he had to come back here, and my mom wasn’t allowed to move here. Dad thought it was best she have primary custody so I shuttled between the two of them until I was twelve, and then my mom was _finally_ allowed to reside here with him and they finally got married and made it all nice and legal and I’ve been here ever since. I just can’t seem to get rid of the accent. You think a British accent is persistent. It’s got nothing on a Southern one.”

“It turned out my mum and her dad knew each other before he went to the States,” Molly said. “So our families have been pretty close ever since. In fact, I’m godmum to her son Henry.”

“And you’re a damn fine godmother, too,” Monai said with a smile. And then her eyes got wide. “Oh! And I have news. I got the transfer.”

“You did?” Molly said. “That’s wonderful!”

Monai nodded. “Next year I’ll be teaching at the London campus and Paul will be Head of Operations at the London branch of his offices. Want to join us for a celebratory drink tonight?”

“I’d love to, but we have plans,” she said. “We have dinner reservations as Kettner’s.”

“Posh place,” Monai said, looking at Sherlock. “I’m impressed.”

Sherlock thought for a moment. It wasn’t how he pictured his evening going, but Molly did seem quite sad she couldn’t celebrate her friend’s good fortune. It wouldn’t hurt if he extended the offer to make it a double date. “If you could get a babysitter for the night, you and your husband could join us,” he said. “The reservations are for seven, and the trains run quite late.”

Monai gave him a wide smile. “Molly, any reservations I ever had about him, I hereby renounce them. Out the window. Gone into the nether. He’s a keeper. Let me call him and see if he can jet out of work early. His mum would jump at the chance to keep Henry overnight so she can spoil him rotten, and if the costumes work out and he can meet us at our flat while I change and we can just head right back out. Do you have return tickets yet?”

Sherlock shook his head. “We were leaving that open.”

“Then we can see about getting the high speed train to St Pancras International and then catch a cab. Sound good?”

“Sounds excellent to me,” Molly said. She looked over at Sherlock. “Is that going to pose problems for later?”

He shook his head. “Our friend encouraged me to include the theatre tonight so I think he was planning on us having a late evening. So long as we have the costumes if we’re out for a while we should be fine. And you’d like to celebrate.”

“Then let’s head out to my car and I’ll take you to my office at the university. That’s where I had my contacts in the fine arts department drop them off,” Monai said. She gave them a grin and then nodded her head. “Follow me.”

Monai began to walk but before Sherlock or Molly followed Molly leaned over and kissed Sherlock’s cheek. “Thank you. I know this isn’t how you wanted the evening to go but…I appreciate it.”

“After Halloween, we’ll have a real date,” he said. “Just us.”

“Good,” she said with a smile before following her friend, Sherlock right behind her. Once they got in Monai’s car it didn’t take long for them to get to the University of Kent campus at Chatham Maritime. Monai led the two of them to her office, which was small but decorated in a very homey way. Molly went straight to what Sherlock assumed was a new picture of her godson. “He looks so big.”

“Oh, he’s getting so huge,” Monai said with a smile, going to a coat rack and picking up two garment bags hanging on it. “He’s going to have another growth spurt soon, I can tell. But his birthday’s coming up, right around the time the family’s going to do our Thanksgiving slash birthday bash. You both should come.”

“Well, I’ll be there,” Molly said, giving Sherlock a glance.

“I’ll see if I have a case then, but if you’d still like me there after tonight, I’ll try,” he said. He was rewarded with a large smile from Molly and he grinned back.

“Excellent!” She laid the two bags on her desk and unzipped one. “Okay, this is the suit.” She pulled out the suit and then laid it on top of the garment bag. “Shoes and hat you’re on your own for, but this is a three piece black suit with grey pinstripes that my friend swears _someone_ wore in the Broadway production. Might have been Jeremy Jordan, might not, but the tie is _definitely_ Jeremy’s tie. He wears it with a suit like this in a pretty iconic number, when Laura is wearing the red dress she wears on the poster.”

Sherlock came over and took a closer look. “How did you manage to get it on such short notice?” he asked curiously, looking at Monai.

“I was looking to get rid of a piece of ‘Les Miserables’ movie memorabilia and I worked out a trade,” she said with a smile. “If you don’t want to keep it after Halloween, give it to Molly to give back to me. I’ll keep it for trade later. I’m sure I can find a use for it, or at the very least for the tie.” Then she went to the other bag. “Now, I wasn’t able to get the dress that would have been the perfect match to that suit, Molly, but I got a pretty nice replica of one of them.” She unzipped the bag and then pulled it out.

Molly looked at it with a wide smile. “Oh, I had loved that one,” she said, running her fingers over it.

“You may need to do some alterations,” she said. “This was custom made, so I’m not sure if it will fit you perfectly.” She picked up the red dress with the brownish-green collar and held it against Molly. “You’re definitely shorter than the person this was originally made for. Do you think you’ll be able to get it altered in time?”

“I think I can,” she said. She put her hands on the hanger and held it against her, then looked at Sherlock. “What do you think?”

“I think you’ll make a very good Bonnie Parker,” he said with a nod.

“Good, because I think you’ll make a very dashing Clyde Barrow,” she said, grinning. She paused for a moment. “We still need to get accessories, but I could probably leave work a bit early tomorrow to do that.”

“Well, if you trust my judgment in shoes, I have some pumps that will work. They’re not _totally_ era appropriate, as they’re more 40s, but they won’t kill your feet,” Monai said. “And since we’ve swapped shoes for years I know they’ll fit. Then you just need to spruce up your hair color, get it styled like a woman back then would, maybe find a beret and voila! You’re done. And all Sherlock has to do is find a spiffy fedora and shoes.”

“That sounds easy enough,” he said, putting the suit back in the garment bag. “Why don’t you call your husband and we’ll see about making those arrangements for our dinner out, then?”

“Sounds good to me,” Monai said with a smile, moving away from Molly to go to the phone on her desk. 

Molly moved over to Sherlock. “Do you know who can do alterations in less than forty-eight hours?” she asked quietly.

Sherlock took the dress from her. “I do,” he said with a nod. “And I think she’d be more than eager to help if it means I’m actually out and having a good time.”

Molly’s eyes widened as she realized who he meant. “Mrs. Hudson?” she asked.

He nodded. “Yes. She keeps encouraging me to socialize. Taking you to a party is socializing, correct? Even if it is to set a trap.” Molly laughed softly. “We’ll just leave that part out when we ask for her help.”

Molly shook her head slightly and kissed his cheek. “Well, as long as we can get these costumes warded tonight, I suppose that’s the important thing.”

“Yes,” he said. “I can stay up and do them if you need to sleep before work, hopefully. That way you can get some rest if we have a late evening with your friend. I get the feeling you don’t have them often.”

“No, not often,” she said. “Hopefully more often when she moves to London.” She turned to look at Monai, who gave her a thumbs up. “I suppose we should get ready to go soon. One thing you’ll love about her is it takes her very little time to get ready, so we’ll probably only be at her flat for a half hour at most. We may end up having quite a bit of time to kill in London.”

“I’m sure we can find a way to occupy our time,” he said, taking her dress to the garment bag it came in. In fact, he hoped there _was_ time before their reservation, because he would like to get to know this close friend of Molly’s better. He had come to the realization today that while he knew a lot about Molly, and while he was bonded to her in a way where he was growing ever closer to her, there was still a lot he could learn about her, and the best way to do so would be to learn from those she considered her friends, and when faced with the opportunity to spend hours with one of her best mates, he should most definitely take advantage of it.


	4. Chapter 4

The dinner had gone well. Sherlock learned quite a bit about Molly, and about her friend as well, throughout the course of the evening. They had stayed out late but not too late, even though Monai’s husband had suggested making a real evening of it and staying overnight in London since his mother was watching their son. Molly suggested a late night theatre performance she’d heard about through friends for them to try and Monai promised to tell them if it was worth it, and then Molly and Sherlock were off the Baker Street again.

Merlin popped up at ten and they got to work warding the costumes. Merlin said that he was actually quite adept at sewing so if the adjustments that needed to be made to her costume were minor he could do them while they were sewing in the few talismans and sigils that needed to be worn close to the skin. Molly had appeared quite amused at that but she’d stayed up a little while longer to try on the dress and have the adjustments measured out. Sherlock had woken Mrs. Hudson up and asked if they could borrow her sewing machine and, while surprised, she relented.

He and Merlin stayed up late into the night, working on the wards that Molly didn’t need to lay herself, going over the spells and working on sewing the sigils into the costumes as well as Merlin working on adjusting Molly’s costume for her. Merlin taught Sherlock a spell that would make the thread used to put a sigil on fabric turn invisible to anyone except the person who put it on there and the person who cast the spell on it until it was activated, and then anyone with magic could see it. He told Sherlock to teach that spell to Molly to use them on the ones on her dress so she would know where they were but Alvarie would not.

It was nearly three in the morning when Sherlock was finally able to retire for the night, leaving Merlin at the kitchen table making the final adjustments to Molly’s costume. He got his pyjamas and went to the loo to change and then crawled into bed next to Molly, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her close. When he woke up the next morning he was alone; Merlin was not there, Molly and John were at their posts and Mrs. Hudson was out running errands. He decided to go visit the place where the party was going to take place. He had never been one for parties, not really, so he had taken no interest in learning about the various venues in London. But he supposed The Clapham Grand had history.

He hailed a cab outside Baker Street and had the driver take him to the venue at Clapham Junction. He stared up at the building, looking at it. It was definitely one of the older types of buildings that he supposed the people of London loved so much, the type that shouted its history with its façade but was modernized inside. It was probably also the type of building which held many ghosts, which was something he should brace himself for as well as prepare Molly for; while he was good at ignoring them in small to moderate quantities, Molly was not and had only been dealing with them for a few weeks. She did not need to have that problem as well as whatever the dark fae was throwing at them.

He made his way to the door and went inside. He had called under the pretense of booking the small Altitude bar for a private event, which he supposed he could do at _some_ point in the far distant future. He was surprised to see the interior did not look very modernized; it still appeared quite Victorian. He was met shortly afterward by a gentleman not much older than him. “Mr. Holmes?” he asked. Sherlock nodded, and then man extended his hand. “Lance Richardson. You were interested in renting out the bar for a private event?”

Sherlock went to shake his hand, and he felt an odd sensation run through him. Something wasn’t right. Something about the man was…off. He dropped the man’s hand as quickly but as nonchalantly as he could. “Yes," Sherlock murmured. “I’ll be attending the event that Scotland Yard is having here, but I thought I would look at the venue first. I have a friend whose birthday is coming up and I thought he could use a change of pace to what he’s used to.”

“We have something special planned for that event,” the man said with a grin.

 _I bet you do,_ Sherlock thought to himself. He knew, deep down, that Alvarie had gotten to this man. “Tell me more about this venue,” he said finally, wanting to see if the spell Merlin had taught him after Eynsford worked, the one where he could see what types of enchantments were on people. All he needed was for the man to ramble on about something, anything, and he could get a read on him.

“Well, this venue originally opened in 1900 and has been a cinema, a bingo hall and a nightclub at various stages in its history,” the man began, though he began to falter when Sherlock began to probe slightly with the spell.

“Live music is performed here?” Sherlock asked, giving his query only part of his attention, focusing mostly on the spell. Lance nodded. “Who are some of the acts who’ve performed here?”

“We've had all sorts of acts here...Buzzcocks in January '92, George Clinton & The P-Funk All Stars in November '92, and then he came with Parliament Funkadelic in July of '95...let's see, Siouxsie & the Banshees in August '93, both Chuck Berry _and_ Bootsy's Rubber Band in February '95, Meshell Ndegeocello in November '96, Muse in November 2003...” 

The names meant nothing to Sherlock but as Lance continued to ramble on he was able to see what was going on. This was not good. Alvarie had found the wards somehow and was working on reversing the obvious ones. He needed to talk to Merlin. He finished the spell and Lance blinked. The man was going to be confused for a moment as his mind was going to need to get sorted back in order. A reboot, as it were. But he’d managed to excise the influence over it, at the very least. He looked at Sherlock, a look of confusion on his face. “Who are you?”

Sherlock waved his hand and muttered the quick spell to freeze Lance in his place. “Don’t say a word,” he said, putting magic behind his suggestion. After a moment’s thought, he used the transportation spell to send Lance to his office, and then he went and locked the door to the building. When he was done he paused. Normally Merlin just popped up unbidden, or they had scheduled a time for him to come. He didn’t actually _call_ Merlin to him. He had no mobile number or anything to reach him, and he knew of no actual spell. After a few minutes he rolled his eyes. “Merlin, get here _now_ ,” he muttered.

“No need to be rude about it,” Merlin said in an amused tone as he popped up behind him. “A ‘please’ goes a long way.”

“She’s using that Clapham Grand employee to undo your wards,” Sherlock said.

The amused grin that had been on Merlin’s face dropped off, replaced with a scowl. “Clever. Annoying, but clever,” he said. “Then let’s do a sweep and reset them and then…well, I know who I’ll be pretending to be tomorrow night.”

Sherlock nodded, following Merlin around as they made their way further inside the building. It was a good thing he had thought to come in and check, he thought to himself. At least now the damage might be more minimal.


	5. Chapter 5

Merlin decided to stay overnight to make sure Alvarie couldn’t undo the wards again. They laid some different ones this time, though most had been left untouched, which Merlin hoped was because they had been unseen. He had cast the spell to blend into the shadows and implanted a suggestion in Lance’s mind that he sleep soundly for a full twenty-four hours when he went to bed that evening. Sherlock knew Merlin would take on Lance’s likeness and attributes and play his role at the Clapham Grand the next day while the event for the Yard was being set up, so he went back to Baker Street to make sure Molly knew the spell about the thread and to prepare her for the numerous amount of ghosts he had seen at the venue. 

The next morning they woke up and went about their business. Molly had managed to talk her boss into a half day since the day before she completed everything she needed to and then some so she had booked an appointment at a salon to have it coloured. He admitted it was going to be interesting seeing her as a ginger, but it could be very appealing. He’d been busy taking care of things at the venue so he still needed to find a fedora, as he planned on using one of the pairs of shoes he had in his trunk of costumes for blending into the woodwork in London. The fedora in the trunk was beat up and battered and if there was one thing he knew about the infamous Clyde Barrow is that he wouldn’t be caught dead in a battered fedora.

He went around to a few shops around noon and eventually found something that fit the suit quite well, and arrived home at the same time as Molly. She had apparently taken the time to have her hair styled as well, and he found his jaw dropping a little as he stared. She blushed at his reaction. “So I take it you like it?” she asked.

“I think it suits you very well,” he said, moving closer to her. “You’re definitely a very attractive ginger.”

She laughed softly. “Well, I see you found your fedora,” she said, gesturing to the bag. “Put it on.”

He took the hat out of the bag and then set it on his head. She studied him. “You’ll definitely have to slick your hair back straight tonight. It’s too curly otherwise.”

“I had thought I might,” he said, taking a smaller bag out of the one his had was in and then taking a jar out of that. “Pomade.”

“Oh, I do like a man who plans ahead,” she said, putting her hands on his chest.

“Well, it’s a good thing I have a tendency to do that,” he said, looking down at her with a grin. 

“How long until the party starts?” she asked.

“It’s quarter past three now,” he said. “Merlin asked that we get there as early as possible, so we have almost three hours to spend until the doors open.”

She nodded. “It won’t take too long to get ready, I don’t think.”

“You should eat something,” he said.

“I’m too nervous,” she replied.

“But it will give you energy,” he said. “You’ll need that if you have to do any spell work, or if I have to draw from you.” He watched her bite her lip as she thought about it. “Tell you what. Order takeaway. Anything you want. I’ll pay for it. And we’ll very carefully curl up on the sofa for a few hours and you can finally get me to watch that children’s Halloween film you’ve wanted me to watch all week.”

He eyes lit up. “You mean ‘Hocus Pocus’?” she said.

He nodded. “Yes. If it will ease your nerves, I’ll suffer through it.”

She gave him a wide grin and leaned in to kiss him softly. “It will. Go put your product away and I’ll go order us some Thai, all right?”

“All right,” he said. He pulled away and made his way to the loo and set his pomade down, then went to the DVD player and rummaged through the Halloween movies she’d set on top that she’d been watching until he found the one she’d been wanting him to see. By the time she was done placing their order he’d gotten it to the main menu and they settled in, her being careful not to mess up her hair, and they began to watch the movie. It was very dated, but he had to admit there was a certain charm to it. They only paused it to get the food, and they ate out of the cartoons as they continued to watch the movie. 

When it was done she looked at him. “Well?” she asked.

“It was all right, I suppose,” he said. She grinned at that. “I think if you want to watch more children’s films on Halloween that would be a worthwhile way of spending the evening while we ignore the world.”

“Good.” She leaned in to give him what he expected she thought would be a brief kiss but he cradled the back of her head gently, keeping her close. When she finally pulled away she looked at him. “What was that for?”

“I like having you here,” he said quietly.

She smiled. “I like being here,” she said. “And, when my home is warded and I can go back, I’d like for you to spend quality time at my home. Overnight, sometimes. Maybe…the nights I’m not staying here. We just…stay together wherever is closer.”

A grin slowly spread across his own face. “So wanting to spend every night together isn’t too much?” he asked.

She set her fingers lightly on his chest. “Even if nothing happens, even if we just sleep, it’s better being next to you. I feel better. I feel more rested when I wake up in the morning. I wake up with a smile on my face. I’m happier. And…I think with whatever this bond is, I wouldn’t like sleeping alone anyway. I think it would be terrible to sleep alone.”

“That doesn’t concern you?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No, it doesn’t, even though it probably should.” He kissed her again, a silent way of saying he felt the same way, and she seemed to know as she moved her hands to frame his face and deepen the kiss. When they pulled apart she smiled at him. “We should probably start getting ready, if we want to get there at six.”

He nodded, reluctantly letting her go. She got off the sofa and then went to the bedroom to get ready. He had brought his suit out to the sitting room and then took it to the loo to do the same. It didn’t take long, and once he’d slicked his hair back and waited for the product in his hair to dry slightly he went out to get the fedora. He was surprised to hear the door to the flat open and he put his guard up until he heard Sally call up “Mols?”

“She’s getting ready,” he called back. He heard footsteps come up the stairs and then Sally was in the sitting room and his eyes were wide. She looked as though she was an Amazon warrior, he realized, ready for battle. Not only that, she had done something drastic with her hair, chemically treating it to make it stick straight. “Who are you supposed to be?” he asked.

“Xena, Warrior Princess,” she said. He gave her a blank look and she shook her head. “Never mind. Pop culture thing…not your forte.” She studied him. “You do make a rather decent Clyde Barrow. Not as dashing as Jeremy Jordan, but close.”

“You saw the musical?” he asked, surprised once again.

Sally nodded. “Went with Molly and her best mate Monai. It was kind of a Broadway musicals three day weekend trip. We flew out on a Thursday after our shifts, saw ‘Bonnie & Clyde’ on Friday, saw ‘The Lion King’ on a Saturday matinee and then saw ‘Wicked’ Saturday night, and then did a bit of sightseeing in Manhattan on Sunday before we flew back Sunday evening.” She smiled fondly. “It was actually a rather nice weekend. Since Molly said Monai’s coming to London next school year, I see many trips to the West End as a trio in our future and less as a duet.”

“I see,” he said. “Never would have pegged you as a fan.”

“Well, it’s because you don’t really want to know me all that well,” Sally said with a shrug. “Maybe now that you and Molly are a thing you’ll take the time to learn.”

“Perhaps so,” he said thoughtfully.

“Anyway, I know you two were going together but as I had a rather large spat with my date and I’m not in the mood to walk in there alone, I had thought…” she said, trailing off slightly. “I mean, she was my mate before she was your girlfriend and all.”

“I don’t have a problem with it,” he said with a shrug.

Now it was Sally’s turn to look surprised. “Really?”

“As long as you realize we’re going to be there at six,” he said.

“That’s fine. Gives me a chance to hit one of the bars nice and early,” she said.

He nodded before looking at her. “Who was your date?”

“Not Philip, if that’s what you want to know,” she said, a tad bit crossly. He gave her a look. “Anderson. After…you fell and all, I just…realized life was too short. Not everyone is as lucky as you to get a second chance like that. So I told him it was me or his wife. He waffled about it, tried to keep things the way they were, so I told him to bugger off and kiss my arse. He’s moved on to someone else and I thought I had to, but Lance is being a right prat.”

“Lance…” Sherlock said slowly.

“Lance Richardson,” she said. “He works at the place where we’re having the party. That’s how I met him, when I was asked to help out last month. I called him a few times today and no answer, so I stopped by the Grand on my lunch and he just blew me off. Acted like he didn’t even know me.”

Sherlock looked over at her. “How much do you know about the…weird…cases I take on?” he asked.

“Well, I know you fell off a hospital roof, got up and walked away from it without a scratch, so there’s something odd about you,” she said with a shrug. “Why?”

Sherlock indicated the seats in the sitting room. He sat down in his and Sally sat across from him. “Your boyfriend was bewitched by a dark faerie yesterday,” Sherlock said. Her eyes widened at that. “Right now he’s in a very deep slumber at home. He’ll be fine. In fact, he’ll probably have the best night’s sleep he’ll have ever gotten. But the man pretending to be your boyfriend is actually the great wizard Merlin.”

Sally scoffed. “Get out.” Sherlock shrugged his shoulders slightly and her eyes widened slightly. “Seriously? Merlin’s really real? So Arthur, Morgan le Fay, the sword in the stone, all of that…it’s all _real_?”

Sherlock nodded. “Not only is it all real, but I am one of his descendents. And I have many of the same powers.”

She leaned back in her seat more. He watched her take that in “Huh,” she said after a few moments. “So you can do real magic. Cast spells, things like that?”

“I can too,” Molly said as she came up behind Sherlock. Both he and Sally hadn’t realized she’d come out and they started slightly. “I’m not anywhere as powerful or as good as Sherlock, but I can do some things. We just keep my abilities more secret.”

Sally looked up at her. “How come you can, Mols?”

“I’m descended from Morgan le Fay,” she said. “I may be more powerful later, maybe not, but a few weeks back something happened that weekend I went away with Sherlock and I almost died. Sherlock had to use magic to save me, and that woke something up in me.”

“I see,” Sally said slowly. She looked back over at Sherlock. “I should beat you senseless for almost letting her die, you know.”

“I know. Trust me, I wouldn’t blame you in the slightest,” he said.

“Don’t tempt me,” she said. She tilted her head. “So…let me get this straight. You two have magic powers, someone bewitched my boyfriend, who’s currently conked out and comatose to the world and the version running around at the Clapham Grand is really Merlin in disguise?”

“That about sums it up, yes,” Sherlock said.

“So I suppose something very big is going to happen at the party?” she asked.

“Yes,” Molly said.

Sally studied the two of them for a moment, then stood up. “Then what can I do to help?”

Sherlock looked at Sally, and then up at Molly, who was giving him a wide grin, and then back at Sally. “First, I need to get you an amulet…”


	6. Chapter 6

Sally had brought her car around but Sherlock said it was best if they took a cab, mostly because he wasn’t sure what condition they might be in when they were done with the evening. The three of them crowded into the back of a cab and made their way to St. John’s Hill, arriving at just before six. Merlin was there, still pretending to be Lance, and he glared at Sally. “I thought I—” he began, but Sherlock shook his head.

“You made a rather large mistake with her,” he said. “Sally happens to be his girlfriend.”

Merlin’s eyes widened. “Oh, bugger,” he said before turning to Sally. “I thought I’d done a better job reading his memories. You weren’t…I mean, he didn’t really…”

Sally held up her hand. “Trust me, you don’t need to go into any more details than that,” she said, her tone grim. “Let’s just get through the night and then I’ll stage a spectacular break-up tomorrow.”

“We’ll hole up in your flat and eat ice cream and drink wine and commiserate,” Molly said with a knowing smile.

“I could possibly make his life a little more uncomfortable,” Sherlock said, throwing out the suggestion cautiously. “If you want me to.”

“I think I might like that, Holmes,” Sally said, giving him a small smile. She turned to Merlin. “So Sherlock gave me this amulet and told me about what we’re dealing with a bit, but I had a thought. She goes after men, yeah?”

Merlin nodded. “Yeah.”

“Give this to Greg Lestrade. I mean, I’m a woman. I should be naturally immune. But Holmes trusts Greg. He’s best to have in our corner when things get really weird. And he’s good at keeping things calm in weird situations.”

Merlin looked over at Sherlock. “Oh, she’s good,” he said approvingly, grinning, before turning back to Sally. “All right. Take the amulet off and keep an eye out for your friend Greg. Explain the situation as best you can. I don’t know when she’ll start but be alert.”

“Is she going to use a glamour?” Molly asked.

“Wouldn’t put it past her,” Merlin said. “But if she needs to bewitch people in a hurry she’ll go to her compact form, which is more the stereotypical faerie form: small, about the size of an apple or an orange. Winged.” He scratched his chin and shut his eyes. “Alvarie’s particular form isn’t exactly ‘light fairy.’ She’s got dark hair, and bats wings and clawed feet with scales up to her knees. Wears as little clothing as possible to show off her attributes but lots of sharp pointy teeth and scales to decorate it. She has purple eyes that glow and when she’s bewitching someone there’s a stream of purple energy flowing from her eyes and mouth directly to the person’s ear. Not sure if it’s the same when she’s using a glamour.” He opened his eyes and looked at Sherlock. “You especially be careful. She’s powerful. If she can get you…well, it’s game over for us.”

He nodded and then they moved apart. He had rather hoped that if he got a second chance to go to an event such as this with Molly he would get the chance to spend time with her but that didn’t appear to be an option. It made him feel bad, especially since he had not even taken her on a proper date yet, and she had wanted to go to this event to have fun, not to stop a megalomaniacal faerie. It didn’t seem quite fair to him.

He made his way around the tables. Molly and Sally had gone off in other directions and every once in a while he could spot them, but he had lost track of Merlin. He must have been concentrating too hard on the others because he ran smack into Dimmock, who was chatting with a blonde gentleman of medium height and build. Dimmock had on fake facial hair, a T-shirt and denim trousers as well as a rather atrocious yellow, orange and red knitted cap, while his blonde companion had on khaki trousers, a T-shirt and a Hawaiian print shirt over that. “Sorry,” he murmured.

“Holmes?” Dimmock asked, squinting for a moment, and then his grin widened. “Didn’t expect to see you here! Here with someone?”

“My girlfriend,” he said slowly. He looked around and saw Molly nearby and pointed. “Molly Hooper.”

Dimmock looked over. “Should have guessed. Where there’s a Bonnie, there’s a Clyde,” he said. Then he turned back to Sherlock before gesturing to the blonde man. “Suppose I should introduce you to my guest. This is my boyfriend, Travis Vandusen.”

Travis grinned at Sherlock. “I’m a big fan,” he said, offering his hand. 

Sherlock was slightly surprised. Not that Dimmock had a boyfriend, but that his boyfriend was a fan after the rather shoddy way he’d treated Dimmock after the Chinese assassin case. He shook the man’s hand regardless, though. “Pleasure,” he said. He watched as Dimmock swatted at something by his ear. “Something bothering you?”

“There was a buzzing by my ear,” he said. “Something annoying. Must have been a fly or something, I guess.”

Sherlock perked up. He had the feeling it was an ‘or something,’ the specific reason that he and Molly and Merlin were on their guard tonight. He cast the nonverbal spell to see the aura of magic in the vicinity and saw that a spell had recently been cast by Dimmock. This was interesting indeed. He gave Dimmock a wide smile. “I may need your help with something later this evening, Dimmock. If I ask, would you be willing?”

“Depends,” Dimmock said. “Is it for a case or something?”

“One of my weird cases,” Sherlock said. “There is something at this party that means to do harm. I’ve taken steps to control the damage but you, and I’m assuming your boyfriend as well, appear to be immune. I may need your assistance in helping to keep things under control if they start to get out of hand.”

Dimmock considered things a moment and then nodded. “All right. Anything to keep people from getting hurt.”

“Excellent,” Sherlock said, clapping him on the shoulder. “If I need you, I’ll find you.” He moved away from the two men and went to go find the others. He went to Molly first, and then found Sally, who had managed to find Lestrade and was sticking close to him. Then the four of them went off in search of Merlin. It appeared, however, that the wizard was nowhere to be found. “This strikes me as something that’s not good,” Lestrade said after they spent nearly a half hour looking.

“No, it’s not good,” Sherlock said. He looked over at Sally. “Donovan, go find Dimmock and his boyfriend. We’re going to have need of them after all.”

She nodded. “Where should we meet?” she asked.

He considered things. If they met in the private boxes they could easily be locked in. Same if they met in the offices or any other area that gave them absolute privacy. “What’s been the least crowded place you’ve been to so far tonight?”

“The backstage area,” Sally said. “There were a few couples there canoodling, but no place we can get locked away, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Then we’ll meet there,” he said. “Molly, go with her. You at least know a few defensive spells. Lestrade and I will keep looking for Merlin. Be there in twenty minutes.”

“All right,” Molly said, giving Sherlock a quick kiss before the two of them headed away towards the main crowd.

Sherlock and Lestrade looked down at the revelers. “She could have hit all the men by now if she was in her small faerie mode already,” Lestrade said.

“I know,” Sherlock said sourly as he nodded before looking over at him, studying his choice in costume. “Who are you supposed to be?” he asked, taking in the tuxedo.

“George Clooney,” he said. “He looks good with grey hair so I figured why not try it myself? I could go for ruggedly handsome. Most people just think I’m an aging Bond, which I _suppose_ isn’t too bad of a costume idea, either.” 

“Considering I have no idea who this George Clooney is, I’m going to say James Bond is a rather good person to be mistaken for,” Sherlock said.

“So that means you do actually know who James Bond is?” Lestrade asked with a grin.

“I had my pirate stage as a child. My brother had his spy stage,” Sherlock said. “He just happened to prefer M to Bond.” He nodded towards the VIP rooms. “I suppose we should actually try and find Merlin, and that means checking locked rooms.”

“So you’ll be picking locks?” Lestrade asked as they moved away from where they were standing. Sherlock nodded. “Conventionally or not?”

“Not. Saves time,’ he said.

“Is it…weird? I mean, I know that’s probably a term you hate and all, but…” Lestrade asked.

Sherlock shook his head. “Surprisingly it feels quite natural, as natural as breathing or solving cases,” he said. “I don’t even think about it most of the time these days, to be honest. The training I’ve done with Merlin has been immeasurable in that regard. Molly seems to have more trouble with it.”

“I can’t believe both of you have magical powers," Lestrade said, shaking his head. “I mean, I know Sally and I are the only two other than John to know about her, but…did you expect that to happen?”

“No, but at the moment I needed to make the decision to save her life I wasn’t thinking about the consequences,” he said quietly. “I just knew I didn’t want to lose her.”

Lestrade looked at him shrewdly. “Considering you two just barely started dating, you care about her quite a bit, don’t you? I mean, more than most men who’d been dating a woman for that long would.”

“I wouldn’t know what’s normal in that regard,” Sherlock said with a slight shrug. “But I care greatly. More than I had ever thought possible.”

Lestrade nodded. “You hurt her and I’ll find a way to kill you, immortality or not. And I mean it, Sherlock. I’ll make a deal with whomever it takes. She’s been hurt too often to be hurt by you too.”

“Duly noted,” he said, making his way up the stairs. He could feel the gaze of many people on him as he walked. Perhaps Alvarie had, in fact, already bewitched most of the men in the room. The room could hold up to a thousand people though he supposed there were really only closer to seven hundred. Roughly half of them were male, so there were only potentially three hundred and fifty to have to deal with, minus Lestrade, Dimmock and his boyfriend plus a few potential others, though they were not on their side and could be more of a hindrance than help. He leaned in towards Lestrade. “Be watchful.”

Lestrade nodded slowly. “You think something might happen?” he asked quietly.

“Well, we’re being watched,” Sherlock said. “And the gazes are not friendly.” He readied himself to throw any spell he might need to at a moment’s notice as they continued to make their way to the VIP booths. He could usually sense Merlin’s presence but because he had been pretending to be someone else it had been harder this evening. Still, he would prefer to do that first before opening each door, for fear of being trapped himself. He stood outside the first booth and concentrated. He felt nothing resembling Merlin’s presence. “Keep an eye on the hallway,” he instructed Lestrade.

“All right,” Lestrade said as Sherlock used a push of magic to unlock the door. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary as he peered in until just before he shut it. The room was being cloaked, he realized, when his eyes ran over a sliver of the room where the cloaking didn’t line up. He pushed at the cloaking spell, untangling it bit by bit. It was complex magic, old magic. “Sherlock?” he heard from the hallway. “We have company.”

“Deal with it,” he said, giving Lestrade the barest amount of his attention. He could hear a scuffle outside the door as he broke apart the spell, and in a flash it all fell to pieces. He saw Merlin in the corner, unconscious, and he went over to him. He looked around to see if there was anything he could use to wake him up and he saw nothing, but then it appeared Merlin was coming to on his own. 

A thud from the hallway drew his attention and he got up quickly, making his way out there to see Lestrade holding his side and three young detective sergeants out cold at his feet. Sherlock raised an eyebrow. “What? You left me to take care of it on my own,” Lestrade said, shrugging slightly before wincing. “I can already tell they’re going to hate me come tomorrow.”

“Hopefully they won’t remember this come tomorrow,” Sherlock said, grabbing the nearest man’s arms and dragging him into the VIP room. After a moment Lestrade did the same with the man nearest him. Merlin was awake at that point. “Good thing we found you.”

“She buggered one of the wards!" Merlin said, his eyes wide. “I’m not sure I finished fixing it before she got to me.”

“Bloody hell,” Sherlock muttered, dropping the man’s arms with a thud. “Which one?”

“The one keeping the men in the building,” Merlin said.

“That’s the one backstage,” Sherlock said. “I’ll go reset it.”

“Hurry,” Merlin said, cradling the back of his head. “Whatever she’s going to do, she’s going to do soon.”

Sherlock nodded and raced out of the room, heading towards the stage. He didn’t care who he shoved out of the way to get there, he knew if Sally and Molly and Dimmock and Travis were there they could be in danger. While Dimmock and Travis were immune to Alvarie’s influence they could still be harmed by the people who were already influenced. When he got backstage he saw Dimmock and Travis fighting against a crowd of ten men, with Molly blasting defensive spells and Sally occasionally throwing a punch when someone edge towards the small perimeter they were defending. Molly hadn’t quite mastered making a safe space for more than two people so she was most likely keeping herself and Sally safe. He quickly cast a spell to stun the men attacking them and they all fell to the floor. Molly looked over at Sherlock with relief and dropped her spell. “Oh, Sherlock!” she said.

“The ward,” he said. “I need to fix the ward.”

“Ah, but there is no need,” a very melodic voice said from the shadows. After a moment a woman walked out. She had long dark hair and a sheer purple dress on, with silver circlets on her arms. He glanced down at her feet and saw dragon’s claws. This must be Alvarie’s glamour, he thought. He made his way in front of the others, ready to protect them. “That foolish wizard managed to repair it, and this…so-called witch kept it safe, but I will simply use you to break it for me.’ She smiled at him, and he saw she had sharp teeth, almost like fangs. She moved closer to him. “The great pupil of Merlin. There are many things said about you, even in the deep, dark hole where I resided.”

“Where you’ll be going back to,” Sherlock said.

She made a ‘tsk-tsk’ sound. “I have a small army at my beck and call now. One word, one loving whisper and they will rise up, slaughter the womenfolk. Tear them asunder and then move into the night. We will bring more menfolk to my cause, then more of my kind. I will rule the world, wrest it away from you puny mortals.”

“Over my dead body,” Sherlock said.

She reached over and grabbed Sherlock’s chin, squeezing it in an ironclad grip and pulling him close so his face was inches from hers. “I can arrange that, William.” Suddenly chanting was heard from the side and her face screwed up in agony. “No. No!” She let go of Sherlock and clamped her hands over her ears.

Sherlock turned and saw Merlin advancing on the faerie, Lestrade behind him, speaking in a language he had never heard before. As they watched, she stiffened and her hands moved away from her ears, extending in front of her, and a thin silver chain began to wind its way around her, starting at her wrists, binding them together. Merlin continued to speak as the chain bound itself around her, the tempo of his voice increasing as the chain moved faster, until all that was left unbound was her head. After a moment Merlin held out his hand and then a helm appeared and he put that over her head. “There. It’s done,” Merlin said.

“It’s all over?” Dimmock asked. “Seems a bit…anticlimactic.”

“Sometimes that’s the best ending,” Lestrade said from where he’d stood near them. “You should know that by now. He slung an arm around the younger DI’s shoulder. “Merlin! Are these blokes going to remember what the bloody hell happened to them?” he asked, gesturing to the men on the floor.

Merlin shook his head. “Everyone who got mesmerized will have the whole events of that time be a bit of a fog,” he said.

“Excellent,” Lestrade said. “Why don’t you and Travis and I go get ourselves a few shots and celebrate the fact the party didn’t go to hell in a handbasket while Sherlock sorts this mess out?”

“I could drink to that,” Sally said. “If you could use the company.”

“More the merrier,” Lestrade said with a grin.

Sherlock leaned over and gave Molly a quick kiss. “Go join them. Have some fun tonight.”

“Are you sure?” she asked hesitantly.

He nodded. “I’ll join you if I can,” he said.

“All right,” she said, and she and Sally then left, threading their way around the unconscious men on the floor to join the men as they headed towards one of the bars.

Sherlock turned to Merlin then. “So, now what do we do?” he asked.

Merlin studied him. “Tonight we give you your introduction to the King and Queen of the Faeries,” he said. “Perhaps we even see if you can curry their favour. It may do you some good in the future if you can. You’re in for a long night, though, fair warning.”

Sherlock bit back a small sigh. He had hoped perhaps he’d get to enjoy just one normal evening but, alas, that would appear not to be the case. Still, the potential uprising had been averted and, perhaps, he could garner another ally in all of this, so that was something. He would have to wait and see how the rest of the evening went before he could make a final determination on it all.


End file.
